Mercer holds off Camels 38-31

Mercer scored on its first four possessions and held off Campbell, 38-31, in a Pioneer Football League game Saturday at Barker-Lane Stadium.

John Russ hit Jordan Marshall with a 72-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage and Mercer (7-1, 3-1) won its third straight game.

Russ ran for 132 yards on 10 carries and added 180 yards in the air on 11 of 16 attempts. He accounted for three touchdowns, two through the air. Ja Tarii Donald added 130 yards on the ground on 22 attempts and two touchdowns for the Bears.

Fighting Camel quarterback Brian Hudson completed 33 of 46 passes for 308 yards and three touchdowns for Campbell (1-7, 0-5), which dropped its sixth in a row. Hudson added 76 yards on the ground in 13 attempts. Kurt Odom ran seven times for 60 yards and hauled in six passes for 33 yards.

Campbell set a school Division I era (since 2008) record for team passing yards (355) as Hudson, Jordan Hildreth and Dakota Wolf all completed passes in front of a Homecoming Day crowd of 4,773.

Campbell outgained Mercer 544-498. However, the Bears did not commit a turnover and totaled seven points off Campbell’s two fumbles.

Trailing 31-10 at halftime, Campbell fumbled on the first play of the third quarter and Russ hooked up with Robert Brown on a 23-yard scoring pass to give the Bears a 38-10 lead with 14:37 remaining in the quarter.

Campbell marched down the field three times on drives of 75, 70 and 96 yards to cut the final gap to seven points. Hudson’s 3-yard keeper trimmed the margin to 38-17 with 11:30 left in the third.

Hudson’s 27-yard pass to Daniel Taylor capped a 12-play, 70-yard march and brought Campbell within 38-24 with 0:50 to play in the quarter.

On 4th-and-5 from the Mercer 20, Hudson hit Jordan Hildreth on a deep out pattern at the pylon with 2:47 left in the game to cut the gap to 38-31.

Campbell’s onside kick attempt went out of bounds and Mercer converted one third-down before running out the clock.

A Tyler Zielenske 39-yard field goal staked Mercer to a 10-0 lead with 7:42 to play in the opening quarter.

Campbell answered with a 65-yard drive capped by Hudson’s 20-yard TD pass to Austin Fleming and cut the gap to 10-7 with 5:20 to play.

Campbell is back in action next Saturday in a 1 p.m. start at Stetson.